WENTWORTH, England, 24 May 2003 — A birdie-birdie finish allowed Darren Clarke to retain the lead in the PGA Championship here yesterday. The Ulsterman shot a three-under 69 to go nine-under for the tournament and keep his nose in front of a cluster of Europe’s top golfers all snapping at his heels.

Ryder Cup teammates Niclas Fasth, Ian Woosnam, Paul McGinley, Jose Maria Olazabal and Colin Montgomerie are all within striking distance. Fasth’s second round five-under 67 put him within one shot of Clarke, Woosnam is only two adrift and McGinley, Montgomerie, Olazabal and Nick Faldo are only four back.

World No. 2 Ernie Els carded his second straight three-under 69 and is three back. But a smiling Clarke delivered a warning to his rivals. “There is a win coming I feel it. If not this week then very soon,” he said. And with the way he is striking the ball here this week a win looks to be sooner rather than later.

Montgomerie smashed his way to a two-under 70 to put himself only three behind Fasth. The burly Scot broke his five wood on the opening hole when he hooked his drive two feet behind a tree.

Also keeping himself in the hunt was Thailand’s Thongchai Jaidee who remains at five-under.

Sorenstam Earns Praise

From European Pros

Meanwhile, Europe’s male professionals were full of praise yesterday for Annika Sorenstam’s battling 71 in the opening round of the Colonial, none more so than British Open Champion Els.

“She played awesome,” said the South African. “She hit 85 percent of the greens. That’s better than any man. We don’t hit 85 percent of greens. I saw her opening tee-shot (on television) and she absolutely killed it. I’m going to be watching again tonight.”

Sorenstam, the world’s leading female player, is the first woman to play on the PGA Tour for 58 years.

Her one-over-par first round put her seven shots behind leader Rory Sabbatini of South Africa. Sabbatini scrambled to a six-under 64 Thursday for the first-round lead in the $5 million Colonial, a feat that went all but unnoticed as all eyes focused on Sorenstam’s historic round.

Sabbatini and his colleagues on the leaderboard professed not to mind the lack of attention, which after all doesn’t count in the scoring. “It’s always nice to have the lead,” said Sabbatini, whose round included seven birdies and a bogey.

While Sorenstam was methodically playing to a one-over 71, becoming the first woman in 58 years to play on the men’s tour, Sabbatini said his effort came despite the fact that “I didn’t hit a lot of fairways or a lot of greens.”

Patrick Sheehan and Mark Calcavecchia were tied for second on 65, followed by Dan Forsman and Sweden’s Jesper Parnevik on 66.